Rogue Pears

The metamorphosis of Harry and David

KATE WASHINGTON

In the middle of the Great Depression, brothers Harry and David Holmes set out to save their family’s Oregon pear orchard. They packed up sample gift boxes of their Rogue River Valley pears and personally delivered them to business leaders in San Francisco and New York. Now, 70 years later, their little pear orchard has metamorphosed into one of the best-known companies in the West, selling its famed gift baskets around the world.

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Harry and David is forging ahead in using sustainable agriculture in its Oregon orchards, from water conservation to composting to natural pest control. And while the company has many new products―from chocolates to cookies to caramels―its pièce de résistance is still the more than 10,000 tons of ripe, sweet pears that it harvests each fall. www.harryanddavid.com or 877/322-1200.